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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26725198">Vested Interest</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Llama1412/pseuds/Llama1412'>Llama1412</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Love Shack [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Eavesdropping, Elf/Human Relationship(s), Enemies to Lovers, Fantastic Racism, Love Confessions, M/M, bamf Ves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:49:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,286</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26725198</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Llama1412/pseuds/Llama1412</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ves targets Iorveth during a Blue Stripes ambush, Iorveth accidentally ends up learning more than he bargained for.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Iorveth/Vernon Roche, Vernon Roche &amp; Ves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Love Shack [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1860328</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>74</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Vested Interest</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Okay, what I should really do is finish the porn in Part 2 of the Love Shack 'verse so that the set up is clear. But uh, I haven't done that yet, so basic premise: Iorveth and Roche started a secret enemies with benefits arrangement (and catch time together in a cabin in the forest, i.e. the Love Shack), but because they are who they are, they accidentally catch feelings.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Iorveth would admit that he’d gotten a bit distracted during his patrol. He was patrolling the forest with Ciaran at his side and even though he should be checking traps and keeping an eye out for monsters, Iorveth’s mind was contentedly stuck thinking about that morning, when he’d left Roche behind in their secret cabin. Roche had woken up enough to turn Iorveth’s kiss goodbye into tender, early morning sex, and when he closed his eye, he could see the broad stretch of Roche’s back, littered with bites and marks. Exactly the way Iorveth liked to leave him – satisfied and </span>
  <em>
    <span>Iorveth’s.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iorveth knew his forest. He’d lived here longer than some of the trees had been alive. But in his familiarity, he’d forgotten the first rule of survival on the continent: never let down your guard. Iorveth’s brutal reminder of that came in the form of a Blue Stripes ambush.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What was that dh’oine saying? ‘Think of the devil and he shall appear’?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The first knife caught him off guard, and his last minute dodge separated him from Ciaran. A quick glance showed his second in command was more than capable of taking care of himself, and that was all Iorveth had time to notice before Ves, Roche’s second, was throwing a knife at his face again. He knocked it off course with his sword, but she already had another headed his way and this was starting to feel strangely personal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Had Iorveth done something to piss her specifically off recently? He couldn’t remember – a quick scan of their last encounter was full of Roche’s gruffly yelled commands and the clang of their swords colliding, but he could recall nothing about Ves. Had he even noticed she was there?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maybe he was more compromised by Roche than he thought, if he’d missed something so vital. The first rule of any fight: know where your opponents are. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But he’d been so fixated on Roche as his opponent that he couldn’t remember if he’d seen Ves at all.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So he had no idea why Ves was charging after him like a woman possessed, knives flashing in the sun. Even Roche seemed surprised, calling Ves’ name and running after them when Iorveth took to the trees to escape the crazy knife lady.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She was </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> good with those knives, and there were several stinging cuts on his arms and legs, though fortunately none seemed deep. Iorveth scurried higher up the branches in hopes of getting out of range, but it had the added bonus of hiding him from those below while leaving them clearly visible to him. Now would be the perfect time to throw a knife right back, but he found himself hesitating. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ves stalked a wide circle around his tree, trying to figure out where he disappeared to. Iorveth watched her snarl and when Roche caught up with her, she nearly took his head off, turning on him with her weapon raised.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ves! What the fuck are you doing?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He did something to you.” She growled, loudly enough that the hair on the back of Iorveth’s neck stood on end. She really was terrifying. He kind of wished he had someone like her on his side.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, he didn’t. As I’ve told you five times today already.” Roche sounded exasperated, as if his second in command going absolutely feral was nothing but a slight headache. Iorveth wondered if he ought to be offended, and also, what were they talking about? Why did she think he’d done something to Roche?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then why are you being so </span>
  <em>
    <span>weird!?”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Ves snarled, “you’ve been a little different for a while – you shout less, you actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>smiled</span>
  </em>
  <span> last week, you stopped Fenn from messing with that dwarven merchant, you were weirdly polite to that elven caravan, </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> don’t think we don’t know that you’re the reason that asshole lieutenants is going to be stuck scrubbing latrines for the rest of his career.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Rape is a serious offense! As soldiers representing Temeria–”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was an </span>
  <em>
    <span>elf!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iorveth flinched at the venom in Ves’s voice. As if being an elf meant they </span>
  <em>
    <span>deserved</span>
  </em>
  <span> being treated as such. His fingers tightened around the hilt of his knife.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’s still a person,” Roche said candidly, “and he still abused his power. If I could’ve gotten him a dishonorable discharge, I would have.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ves shook her head. “I don’t care about that – we know you fought with the King when the sentence for rape was lessened. I’m not surprised you ruined him. But you practically mothered the elf afterwards! What the fuck was that about!?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iorveth blinked in surprise. He knew that consent was a big deal to Roche, not least because he’d seen his mother forced into situations where she couldn’t give it. But everyone knew the reason Foltest had essentially removed any official punishment for the crime of rape was so that his soldiers could attack elves and nonhumans with impunity. That Roche had not only fought against it, but taken specific actions to </span>
  <em>
    <span>help</span>
  </em>
  <span> an elven victim...Iorveth swallowed around the tight feeling in his throat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roche threw his hands up in the air. “Well, what was I supposed to do? She was hysterical!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’s a suspected Scoia’tael informant! Who cares what she feels like!? She helps those bastards murder innocents and you coddle her!? Since when?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How is it coddling to let someone cry all over you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Last time someone tried to cry at you, you passed them off to Pillow Tits and fucking ran!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roche opened his mouth to respond, but no words came. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ves crossed her arms and nodded as if she’d won.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I still don’t see what this has to do with you thinking Iorveth did something to me,” Roche finally said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ves leveled a look on Roche that clearly said </span>
  <em>
    <span>are you stupid?</span>
  </em>
  <span> and even from a distance, it was an impressively quelling look.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The Commander of the Blue Stripes, a unit </span>
  <em>
    <span>specifically</span>
  </em>
  <span> tasked with the destruction of the Scoia’tael, suddenly starts making nice with Scoia’tael informers? Gee, whose objectives does that meet perfectly?” She waved at the forest around them, “I don’t know how the Scoia’tael got to you, but they will </span>
  <em>
    <span>pay.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The ferocity of her voice sent a shiver of fear up Iorveth’s spine and he suddenly wondered if he’d put enough distance between her knives and his vulnerable squishy bits. But moving now would likely only draw their attention to the tree canopy, and that was the last thing Iorveth needed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roche licked his lips. “Ves, I swear upon my mother’s blood, no one has gotten to me. I – maybe I have been different lately, but it’s not whatever you’re thinking. I–” he cleared his throat awkwardly and Iorveth found himself crouching down as low as he could on the branch to better hear Roche’s response. “You know how you’ve all been joking lately about me – um, well, me having a secret lover?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes?” The suspicion dripped off of Ves’s words.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iorveth’s nails dug into the tree branch. There was no </span>
  <em>
    <span>way </span>
  </em>
  <span>Roche was about to tell her about them. He swallowed harshly. If Roche was about to sign Iorveth’s death warrant, he needed to hear it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iorveth found himself holding his breath and the sounds of the forest seemed to freeze, as if it was waiting in anticipation with him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s – I’m in love with an elf.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oh. That – that was not at all what Iorveth had been expecting. He stared down at Roche in absolute shock as his pulse pounded in his ears. They hadn’t – he’d never thought – Roche meant </span>
  <em>
    <span>him, </span>
  </em>
  <span>right?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like fuck you are,” Ves said, voice sounding as stunned as Iorveth felt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roche cleared his throat and Iorveth was pretty sure he was blushing. “There’s a reason I didn’t tell you. Any of you. I – it’s – Ves, it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>good. </span>
  </em>
  <span>The stuff you think is weird – it’s – I guess I’m just,” he licked his lips, “I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>happy.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iorveth’s head was spinning wildly and if it wasn’t for his fierce grip on the tree branch, he was sure he would have fallen. He felt his own chest rise and fall rapidly as his breath quickened, but he felt distant from it, the entirety of his being fixated on Roche.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t believe you,” Ves said, but her voice shook. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve kept it a secret from everyone. I knew – well, that you’d all react – pretty much like this. Maybe with more screaming.” Roche’s voice was gentler than Iorveth had ever heard it outside of their bedroom late at night.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Roche – if the King found out–” she actually sounded scared. Iorveth had half thought Ves wasn’t capable of fear.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know. Believe me, I know.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why would you even pursue something with an elf!? This could get you declared a traitor!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roche let out a huff. “It just happened. And I know the risks. I literally–” he fidgeted restlessly, “fuck, Ves, I share an office in Vizima with the King! I know how much of a risk it is. I know that my King would consider my feelings disgusting. I–” he trailed off and Iorveth desperately wanted to hold him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ves’s face was pale. “He would force you to choose,” she said, “Temeria or your elf.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roche shook his head. “That’s not a choice I can make.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A year ago, you would have said that Temeria came before any tender feelings anyone might have.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know. I – it’s not a fair choice, Ves. It assumes that because he’s an elf, he wants to destroy Temeria.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Well, maybe not </span>
  <em>
    <span>because</span>
  </em>
  <span> he was an elf, but Iorveth wasn’t opposed to a little destruction. But he knew what Roche meant. Temeria wasn’t just a kingdom to Roche, she was an entity, an ideal. And, Iorveth realized, Roche wanted that ideal to include nonhumans being seen as people. His jaw trembled and Iorveth suddenly realized that he was on the verge of tears, just from the sheer </span>
  <em>
    <span>relief</span>
  </em>
  <span> of knowing that the person that he lo– that </span>
  <em>
    <span>Roche</span>
  </em>
  <span> understood and had even changed his own behavior in light of it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, it’s not like an elf is going to </span>
  <em>
    <span>help</span>
  </em>
  <span> Temeria!” Ves said as if it were obvious.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why not?” Roche asked, “seriously, why not?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why the fuck would they help somewhere that treats them like shit?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And </span>
  <em>
    <span>why</span>
  </em>
  <span> do we treat them like shit? Seriously, Ves, think about it. If tomorrow, the King suddenly decided that women could no longer serve in the special forces, wouldn’t you fight with everything you have to change that?” Moving with deliberate slowness, Roche reached out and put a hand on Ves’s shoulder. “Whenever someone looks at you and thinks that because you’re a woman, you’re weak, you prove them wrong. But what happens when someone </span>
  <em>
    <span>can’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>prove that they’re worth being treated like a person? What if you’re like Marnie, who we all know is the best shot this side of the Pontar, but who also needs support to hold her crossbow up?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Marnie throws up at the sight of blood. She’d make a terrible soldier.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know that’s not the point.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ves shook her head. “You’re acting like the Scoia’tael are justified! What, because someone treated an elf badly, it gave them permission to slaughter my parents!?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s not what I said. I would </span>
  <em>
    <span>never</span>
  </em>
  <span> say that.” Roche squeezed her shoulder. “The Scoia’tael who murdered your parents were wrong. But not every elf are those elves.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ves shrugged off his hand and sneered. “So what? You’re an elf lover now? Gonna go let all the scum in the forest run free?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re deflecting. We’re not talking about the Scoia’tael, we’re talking about elves as a species. Tell me why an elf, any elf – say, that blacksmith you say does great work in Novigrad – tell me why he is a threat to Temeria.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That drew her up short, and Iorveth watched as Roche watched her in silence, nodding slightly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come on, let’s head back to base,” Roche eventually said and this time when he put a hand on her shoulder, she let him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iorveth watched as they walked away through the forest, reeling. Had that really happened? Had he honestly just seen Roche – Highly Decorated Temerian Special Forces Commander </span>
  <em>
    <span>Vernon Roche</span>
  </em>
  <span> – attempt to guide his second in command through a Racism for Beginners conversation? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Would it work? Not that racism like Ves’s could be dispelled so easily, but a year ago, he would have said that Vernon Roche would never understand the systemic hatred of elves built into the very fabric of Temeria. Now...now, he wasn’t sure. But he had hope.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When was the last time he’d had that? Hope that humanity could be better?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iorveth nearly jumped out of his skin when Ciaran jumped onto the branch in front of him. His second in command looked just as confused as Iorveth felt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you hear that?” Ciaran asked. “Maybe there </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> some humans who are salvageable. Never thought I’d say that about </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> human, though.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iorveth hummed. His mind felt stuffed full of too much stuff and he could feel himself floundering under the sheer weight of his tangle of emotions. It took effort to shove all of it aside, to remember that he was Ciaran’s commander and that he had a responsibility to see them safely back to Aindeoin. He drew himself together and rose to his feet, signalling the return to base.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But even as Iorveth pushed everything he felt to the side to be dealt with later, a warm candle flickered to life in his chest. Roche loved him. Roche was trying to change, trying to be better because of </span>
  <em>
    <span>him. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <span>He swallowed thickly and each inhale breathed life into the flame. Roche </span>
  <em>
    <span>loved</span>
  </em>
  <span> him. </span>
</p>
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